Asia’s appetite for high quality soymeal

TVO is Southeast Asia’s largest soybean oilseed processor, managing 4 crushing facilities and 3 refineries in Thailand. All About Feed talked to Supachai Vitayatanagorn, who heads the International Business Unit of the company.

The Thai Vegetable Oil company (TVO)’s head office is located in Bangkok, Thailand, with its 4 manufacturing sites located in the Nakorn Prathom province. TVO is currently the largest soybean processor in the region. The company produces over 1 million tons of soymeal annually which, in turn, is equal to a production of 275,000 tons of vegetable cooking oil per year.

The company was founded in 1968 by the Vitayatanagorn family, who started the business for rice bran oil milling. Today the company processes approximately 6,000 tons of soybeans a day, resulting in 1,000 tons of soybean oil. TVO also processes sunflowers and has been listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand since 1990. TVO has 4 business units: animal feed, consumer cooking oil, industrial cooking oil and the international business unit. The animal feed business primarily produces soymeal, as well as lecithin (capacity is 200 tons a day). The 4 mills run 24 hours a day, split between 3 shifts. The feed mills employ a total of around 1,000 people.

TVO has a stringent QC & QA system to monitor every step, from the raw material entering the production process to the finished products. Photo: tvo

Majority of soya is imported

From the name of the company, you might think that it is mainly a vegetable oil company. The co-product from soybean processing, soymeal, is actually the main product, generating more than 70% of the company’s revenue. Soymeal is an important component for animal diets. At the moment, the annual feed demand for Thailand is growing at a rate of 7% per annum based on data from TFMA (Thai Feed Manufacturing Association). According to the Thailand Custom Official, Thailand imported 2,557,384 tons of soybeans last year. This represents growth of 34% from the 2014 figure. It is mainly due to the growing demand for soya products from the feed and livestock industry and the demand for use as food. Accordingly, soybean imports are expected to grow as well. In line with this, soymeal production is also on the rise, due to the growing demand for soymeal.

“Thailand consumes around 4.2 million tons of soymeal each year. In the whole of Thailand, around 1.4 million tons of soymeal are produced locally, the largest share of which is produced by TVO (between 65-70%). The soymeal market for use in animal feed is growing in Thailand by around 10% per year,” explains Supachai Vitayatanagorn, Executive Vice President of the company and heads the International Business Unit.